Can I install an ssd in this laptop without voiding the warrenty?

[_Chaotic_]

I'm current in the market for a new laptop and I saw this ASUS ROG Strix laptop that I'm probably going to purchase during black friday. Does anyone know if I can remove the bottom to install a ssd in it without voiding the warranty?

[Pendragon]

Just now, _Chaotic_ said:

I'm current in the market for a new laptop and I saw this ASUS ROG Strix laptop that I'm probably going to purchase during black friday. Does anyone know if I can remove the bottom to install a ssd in it without voiding the warranty?

nope. Asus is notorious for this worst-in-class warranty

[vorticalbox]

2 minutes ago, Pendragon said:

nope. Asus is notorious for this worst-in-class warranty

so long as there is no warranty sticker and you replace the original hard driver before RMA I see no reason why they wouldn't accept it.

[Dark]

1 hour ago, vorticalbox said:

so long as there is no warranty sticker and you replace the original hard driver before RMA I see no reason why they wouldn't accept it.

Is this an ASUS thing?

 

My MSI came with a warranty sticker but I was told that swapping out storage/memory is fine as long as the installation/device isn't what caused the failure.

[vorticalbox]

52 minutes ago, Dark said:

Is this an ASUS thing?

 

My MSI came with a warranty sticker but I was told that swapping out storage/memory is fine as long as the installation/device isn't what caused the failure.

normally they let you access hd/ram via panels and have a sticker over one screw to stop you removing the bottom.

[Dark]

1 minute ago, vorticalbox said:

normally they let you access hd/ram via panels and have a sticker over one screw to stop you removing the bottom.

Interesting.  The MSI is a solid bottom panel--I had to remove the sticker completely.

[vorticalbox]

6 minutes ago, Dark said:

Interesting.  The MSI is a solid bottom panel--I had to remove the sticker completely.

most of the laptops I have had have panels and one sticker depends on who makes it.

[more_fps]

you could just pay Best buy to do it, it costs 40 bucks. I'm assuming this way your warranty will still be intact. 

[Dark]

4 hours ago, TechNutz said:

you could just pay Best buy to do it, it costs 40 bucks. I'm assuming this way your warranty will still be intact. 

And what makes Best Buy any more qualified?

 

Do they cover warranty work if the mainboard fails (not due to the upgraded parts) when the manufacturer claims that its warranty is void due to breaking the seal?

[D2ultima]

9 hours ago, vorticalbox said:

so long as there is no warranty sticker and you replace the original hard driver before RMA I see no reason why they wouldn't accept it.

Nope, incorrect. Even if you change the slot the HDD is from slot 1 to slot 2 (without adding a single other thing) you void the warranty for the ENTIRE ASUS laptop.

 

You're not allowed to do anything with ASUS. ANYTHING. 

8 hours ago, Dark said:

My MSI came with a warranty sticker but I was told that swapping out storage/memory is fine as long as the installation/device isn't what caused the failure.

MSI and most Clevo rebranders don't care what you do as long as you doing it doesn't break the machine. If I were still under warranty for my current laptop, for example, I could:

 

- Swap out both mSATA SSDs

- Reinstall my OS to anything

- Swap my 780Ms for 980Ms

- Replace my laptop screen

- Swap my keyboard

- Upgrade my CPU to a 4930MX

- Change my heatsinks

- Repaste with liquid metal

- Change out my RAM (though I already did)

 

And still be under warranty. The new parts wouldn't be, of course, but if say my motherboard were to cop out on me one day? Wouldn't be a problem. MSI may not be so open but they're almost as flexible. ASUS and Razer don't allow you to even clean the laptop without breaking warranty.

 

MSI's warranty sticker is more of a precaution, and they've stated that openly multiple times.

[Citizen_no7]

4 hours ago, D2ultima said:

Nope, incorrect. Even if you change the slot the HDD is from slot 1 to slot 2 (without adding a single other thing) you void the warranty for the ENTIRE ASUS laptop.

 

You're not allowed to do anything with ASUS. ANYTHING. 

 

that's odd, I went to Expert(northern europe store chain) to ask about GL702(same machine at 17") and while they didn't have one available, there was 502 on display and I did specifically ask about the maintenance on it since it doesn't have separate hatch like my G751 has.

According to them, expansion slots are features and screws are not covered with void warranty warnings, nor are they hidden or use special heads(regular philips screws)

 

However, I believe retailers do have their own check on the machine before sending it to Asus(which I believe is causing this misconception that asus doesn't deal with it, while really the retailer doesn't want to spend time checking it)

 

Official Asus warranty guide however states that machine must be shipped in same configuration it was bought (original hard drives/memory and must be shipped in original packaging)

[D2ultima]

1 minute ago, Citizen_no7 said:

that's odd, I went to Expert(northern europe store chain) to ask about GL702(same machine at 17") and while they didn't have one available, there was 502 on display and I did specifically ask about the maintenance on it since it doesn't have separate hatch like my G751 has.

According to them, expansion slots are features and screws are not covered with void warranty warnings, nor are they hidden or use special heads(regular philips screws)

 

However, I believe retailers do have their own check on the machine before sending it to Asus(which I believe is causing this misconception that asus doesn't deal with it, while really the retailer doesn't want to spend time checking it)

 

Official Asus warranty guide however states that machine must be shipped in same configuration it was bought (original hard drives/memory and must be shipped in original packaging)

Well, my statement comes from people who have dealt directly with ASUS and asked about things. I've seen someone have his warranty from ASUS denied simply because he swapped the HDD from slot 1 to slot 2, so I know for an absolute fact that it's a thing. ASUS support is terrible, and ASUS likes everything to be as ASUS does it. It's also the reason why their machines take about an hour to take apart for cleaning; it's on purpose so that customers don't do it.

 

As for Europe and such, some places are disallowed from ever killing warranty as long as the user doesn't break something. I think it's the Netherlands that have this warranty which can't be overridden by ASUS, but I can't be certain. As you say though, they want things exactly. I go for the benefit of the doubt on the consumers' side, and tell people to either buy everything with the laptop, or never change anything inside of it and instead send it to ASUS for anything. And that if they get any problems, to return it and buy a new one, rather than go through ASUS RMA hell where the laptop often comes back more broken than when it was sent.

 

That is, assuming, that I ever let someone purchase an ASUS in the first place. Their machines are more gimmick than good, unfortunately, and coupled with their extremely iffy warranty practices it's barely better than buying a Razer machine.

[Citizen_no7]

10 minutes ago, D2ultima said:

Well, my statement comes from people who have dealt directly with ASUS and asked about things. I've seen someone have his warranty from ASUS denied simply because he swapped the HDD from slot 1 to slot 2, so I know for an absolute fact that it's a thing. ASUS support is terrible, and ASUS likes everything to be as ASUS does it. It's also the reason why their machines take about an hour to take apart for cleaning; it's on purpose so that customers don't do it.

 

As for Europe and such, some places are disallowed from ever killing warranty as long as the user doesn't break something. I think it's the Netherlands that have this warranty which can't be overridden by ASUS, but I can't be certain. As you say though, they want things exactly. I go for the benefit of the doubt on the consumers' side, and tell people to either buy everything with the laptop, or never change anything inside of it and instead send it to ASUS for anything. And that if they get any problems, to return it and buy a new one, rather than go through ASUS RMA hell where the laptop often comes back more broken than when it was sent.

 

That is, assuming, that I ever let someone purchase an ASUS in the first place. Their machines are more gimmick than good, unfortunately, and coupled with their extremely iffy warranty practices it's barely better than buying a Razer machine.

Oh you don't ever deal with major brands directly by yourself, they don't lose anything over single pissed-off customer. but if Retail chain contacts them(which is their major source of income) they kinda have to force that smile and answer the phone.

 

EU regulations are more like fallback set of rules in case there are loopholes in consumer protection laws in said country, which in court will push the responsibility to retailer

 

 

but TL;DR as long as you follow official guidelines on warranty(it's shipped with the computer, either as PDF or leaflet) there is no way either one(retailer or manufacturer) can deny your warranty. And when someone wants to have a fight over, just show them this: http://rog.asus.com/articles/g-series-gaming-laptops/upgrade-guide-rog-strix-gl502/

and http://rog.asus.com/tag/guides/

 

very much official guide from ASUS website which states nothing about losing warranty

and yes I'm pretty sure that holds in court, as long as you document your upgrade procedure with proof that computer works fine after the procedure.

(which you should do these days, even unboxing)

[Pendragon]

Just now, Citizen_no7 said:

and yes I'm pretty sure that holds in court, as long as you document your upgrade procedure with proof that computer works fine after the procedure.

It's actually illegal to refuse warranty for doing nothing damaging to the product. But on a case to case basis, nobody gonna sue Asus. Unless you literally have nothing to do with $10,000s of dollars, sueing them is both prohibitively expensive and there's 0 value in doing so. You could buy a whole host of their products again and again with the legal fees you accumulate. Not to mention your more than likely to lose to the companies vast network of legal defense experience and attorneys. 

[Citizen_no7]

1 minute ago, Pendragon said:

It's actually illegal to refuse warranty for doing nothing damaging to the product. But on a case to case basis, nobody gonna sue Asus. Unless you literally have nothing to do with $10,000s of dollars, sueing them is both prohibitively expensive and there's 0 value in doing so. You could buy a whole host of their products again and again with the legal fees you accumulate. Not to mention your more than likely to lose to the companies vast network of legal defense experience and attorneys. 

again, Let retailer deal with them, your word has no weight against them.
if they sell it, I'm pretty sure they are obliged to handle the warranty/legal/what ever bullsh** that is included

[D2ultima]

2 minutes ago, Citizen_no7 said:

again, Let retailer deal with them, your word has no weight against them.
if they sell it, I'm pretty sure they are obliged to handle the warranty/legal/what ever bullsh** that is included

It's still pretty iffy with them. The only thing I know is that they're allowed to take returns.

[more_fps]

18 hours ago, Dark said:

And what makes Best Buy any more qualified?

 

Do they cover warranty work if the mainboard fails (not due to the upgraded parts) when the manufacturer claims that its warranty is void due to breaking the seal?

 

Well they are professional (not some average joe) and they sell asus laptops. So, I might be wrong but they might be certified by asus for changing the hard drive, thus still keeping the warranty. 

[Dark]

18 hours ago, TechNutz said:

 

Well they are professional (not some average joe) and they sell asus laptops. So, I might be wrong but they might be certified by asus for changing the hard drive, thus still keeping the warranty. 

It would need to be explicitly stated if that were the case (certainly possible but I have not seen it).  There are 'authorized resellers' but not always are they granted the ability/right to perform repairs backed by the manufacturers warranty.

 

[_Chaotic_]

A quick update on the whole asus laptop warrenty situation. Before I ordered my laptop, I did contact asus customer support I asked them about the upgrade on my particular unit. They told me that, as long as the laptop didn't have a warranty sticker on it and if I did RMA it as long as everything was stock when I send it in, then the warranty will still be valid. So if anyone in interested in buying the same laptop as me, you can upgrade this unit without voiding the warranty, I comes with 1 year on the hardware as well as a 1 year for accidental, which only applies for drops and spills and can only be used once, accidental is not valid if you opened the unit and broke something yourself.